IOWA QRP JOURNALNEWSLETTER OF THE IOWA QRP CLUB

It's that time of year again! Fallhas arrived bringing the changingcolors and the harvest from muchhard labor. The higher bands haveawakened bringing many majoropenings and plenty of DX to workwith those QRP signals. Admittedlythis is my favorite time of year.The weather is still nice enough toenjoy while ham radio conditionspermit many hours of excitement.We all know what type of weatherlies ahead so now is the time to doa check of antenna systems or putup that new antenna.

Earlier we established a theme ofplanting the seeds of QRP to seewhat our harvest would bring. Theclub has planted seeds by havingdisplay tables at the Des Moines,Sioux City, Amana (thanks toKB0EDE), and West Liberty hamfests.Building events were held in SiouxCity, West Liberty, and Des Moinesto introduce new builders to thejoy of constructing your ownequipment. The Fireball 40transmitter kit was featured inSioux City and the St. Louis AudioAmp was featured in West Libertyand Des Moines. Ade (W0RSP), Paul(KB0JIT), Jerry (WB0T), and John(NU0V) had QRP relatedpresentations at the Sioux Cityhamfest. A building contest washeld in January with three winnersbeing awarded prizes for theiroutstanding entries. The secondannual building contest willconclude sometime in January 2000.

Meetings were also held inUrbandale, Sioux City, and IowaCity to give everyone anopportunity to attend. The clubalso arranged group buys on bookswith Paul Washa books and TickKeyers from Embedded Research.Plus special promotional prices onQRP kits were offered at some ofthe hamfests (by various vendors).

It has been a great year for theclub and the harvest we have gainedis that membership has grown intothe 90's. I expect it to continueto increase, as the club remainsactive in promoting the 'good word'about low power operating. Membersare sharing their operatingexperiences and projects by writingarticles for this newsletter (andmy thanks to you all for making ita success). Many new builders havebeen shown how easy and fulfillingit is to pick up that solderingiron and create a functioningstation accessory or rig.

The Iowa QRP Club will also besponsoring several operating eventsin the upcoming months. Moredetails will follow later but Ithink you all will enjoy what's inthe works.

Over the last few months I've hadthe pleasure of working with DaveGauding of the St. Louis QRPSociety. The SLQS has donatedseveral sample issues of theirnewsletter for our display tableplus has donated audio amp boardsto use as a club project. Theboards have been distributed at theWest Liberty and Des Moineshamfests and any remaining will beavailable to members by sending mean SASE (while supplies last). Theaudio amp is a fun project and is agreat project for the first timebuilder.

Finally I need to correct a mistakeI made in the last issue of theIowa QRP Journal. I incorrectlystated the VE3DNL marker generatorkit was being sold through theArkansas QRP Club. That was notcorrect and my apologies to JayBromley W5JAY of the Ft. Smith QRPClub (Arkansas). The Ft. Smithgroup is marketing the VE3DNLmarker generator and the proceeds

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go towards funding QRP relatedevents.

The latest excitement with QRPoperating is milliwatting! Severalmembers of the club have beentrying to help KJ5TF in working allstates using milliwatt powerlevels. Others have just joined inthe fun. I had the pleasure ofQSO'ing with W5XE on October 12.He had a nice signal so I answeredhis CQ (plus I recognized his callfrom QRP-L). To my surprise he wasonly running 700 milliwatts (andhad a 5/5 to 5/7 signal)! Helowered his power to 300 milliwattsand my report to him was 5/4/9.The report changed to 5/2/9 at the100 milliwatt level. I would haveasked him to lower the powerfurther but family matters calledso I had to QRT. Ray did say hehas successfully made contacts atthe 3 milliwatt level. This hobbyis truly amazing!

72, de John NU0Vburnleyia@home.com

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Member Profile - John Mc Clun N3REYBy John Mc Clun N3REY

I grew up in Oskaloosa in thefifties and sixties. Graduatedfrom high school there and attendedWilliam Penn College for a year anda half. I started dabbling inelectronics by building crystalradios and a single tube five-bandheterodyne receiver amongst otherfun items. Then Uncle Sam called,or at least I thought he was goingto invite me, so I joined. Went toColorado to learn medicalelectronics and spent 10 yearsdoing that for God and country.But then I found out I could dothis for a living and make moremoney if I was doing it as acivilian. So I went to work forsome medical companies installingand servicing CAT scans andeventually MRI machines. At thesame time I got involved in

computers, building and repairing,then programming. I got my degreein programming but hated sitting ata terminal for 8 hours a day. So Iwas wondering how I could solve mydilemma when it dawned on me that Icould combine my hardware talentsand my software and became asystems network administrator. Sohere I am at the University ofMaryland doing just that for thelargest research engineeringinstitute on campus. Sorry Idigressed there.

I really started in ham radio inthe late 70's as a bandit. I was alicensed CB'er but had illegal hamgear I used. Shh.... don't mentionit. I never did get caught. Thenagain in the early 90's I gotinterested in ham radio. So I gotmy Technician, then a couple ofmonths later my Plus ticket and sixmonths later my Advanced ticket.Operated solely QRP, always havealways will. Why you ask? In themilitary we have a saying, be thebest you can be. I feel thatQRP'ers are doing just that. Whattalent does it take to make a QROcontact at 1,500 watts (or even 100watts for that matter)? That'salso why I build all my equipment(except for the QRP+). It takes aspecial talent. Along those lines,I belong to ARCI, QRP-L, FIST andIA - QRP and others, just to tweakmy talents.

I have built around 50 kits in mytime. From a Heathkit HW7, and HKTV kit (remember those?), anoscilloscope and a grid diposcillator. Then I have built somefine radios including some of DaveBensons' rigs, S&S Engineering'skits (ARK-40 and 20), OHR-500, twoSierras and many others. Even someof my own design. I also have themost modified QRP+ in existence, Idid all of Larry East's mods,Norbert Heiders and mine that arepublished. What I haven'tpublished is the mod I did forcomputer control of the synthesizeron the QRP+ and the attenuator

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switch. Just recently I built theElekraft K2, man what a sweetkit!!! I mean it is a fullfunction rig in every sense of theword and built from a kit. And noproblems - the rig went together asstated and worked from the minute Iplugged it in.

Oh I forgot to mention... I ammarried to a wonderful woman whoputs up with my motorcycle riding,my ham radio and my sailing habit.Five kids, two dogs and a cat. Wealso ride bicycles and rode ourtandem from Seattle to Baltimorelast year - 3,255 miles, 70 miles aday. Did I mention I have MuscularDystrophy? I'm on medication forit and I still have some muscleweakness, but it doesn't keep medown.

If you are in the Baltimore areagive me a shout, I would love totalk to you about..... what ever.Hope to see you on the air so. Ihave applied for my new call signso I may be NQ3RP or KQ3RP by thetime this gets published, but willlet you know on the net when thathappens.

72, de John N3REYjmcclun@home.net

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Emergency Power System For YourShack

By Paul Sipes KB0JIT

The following circuit will providepower for your rigs duringcommercial power failures and alsokeep your standby batteries at fullcharge while you are operatingnormally. During normal operationthis circuit is charging yourbackup battery. With the flip of aswitch you have the option to runyour rig from normal power or fromyour backup battery.

There are many types of batteriesthat can be used for emergency andbackup service. A car battery is

probably the easiest to obtain.The use of a car battery can bedangerous, as it will outgas whencharged heavily. Also acid can bespilled easily. Battery acid willeat almost any kind of material andis very hazardous to skin. Thesafest kind of battery is thesealed acid cell commonly known asgelled cells. These batteries arenow available new and on thesurplus and used market. They areavailable in 2, 4, 6, and 12 volt,with current rating from 1/2 amphour to 110 amp hour. A 20 amphour battery will operate anaverage radio for up to 8 hours ofuse before reaching a state ofdischarge.

A sealed lead acid battery shouldbe charged to 13.8 volts. This isan average single cell voltage of2.3 volts. When the batterydischarges to 10.2 volts or1.7volts per cell it is considereddischarged. If the battery isdischarged beyond this point it ispossible it will be destroyed.Charging a 12-volt battery to morethan 13.8 volts or 2.3 volts percell will cause it to begin tooutgas and with repeated chargingwill decrease the capacity of thebattery. Your station power supplyshould be set for 13.8 volts forproper battery charging and alsofor proper operation of your rigs.

The basic circuit was taken from CQMagazine's June 1997 issue page 56.I built the circuit and used it aswritten in the article. It workedas advertised and was simple tobuild. After using the circuit Idecided it didn't operate the way Iwanted it to so I modified it andthis is the result of thatmodification. The components forthis circuit are all available atRadio Shack. The parts list willfollow in this article.

Figure 1 is a schematic drawing andshows the components and theirelectrical placement in thecircuit. Figure 2 is a line

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drawing showing the components andtheir physical layout. Theterminal strip is used to hold thecomponents and makes an easysupport for everything. For theoperating leads I use #10 strandedwire. The lamp and control leadsare #16 stranded wire. On the #10wire I used yellow split spadeconnectors and for the #16 wire Iused blue split spade connectors.For the resistor, diodes, andlamps, I also used the blueconnectors. The colors on theconnectors are a code for the sizewire they will accept. The yellowis used for #10 to #14, and theblue is used for #16 to #22. Theseare crimped connectors.

For the connections to the rigs Iuse the Radio Shack Heavy DutyMolded Nylon connector. These arepart # RS-274-154 for the femaleand # RS-274-151 for the maleconnector. I use the femaleconnector on the batery supply andthe male on the radio. The use ofa distribution terminal strip andinline fuses allow you to connectseveral rigs to the same supply andstill have them all protected.When using these connectors, Ialways make the pin on the beveledside of the connector the positivepin. Doing this always sets astandard way of wiring that allowsa radio to be connected withoutconcern about reversed polarity. Ialso use a barrier strip as adistribution point to connectseveral other radios or accessoriesto power. On the output of thedistribution strip you can use

inline fuses to protect the systemand your radios. This is shown inthe figures.

I use lamps in the circuit toindicate which supply I am using.Lamp L1 indicates any time thepower supply is turned on. L2indicates power going to thedistribution block. If L2 islighted and L1 is dark you thenknow that your battery is providingpower. The voltmeter will indicatewhen your battery is getting lowand needs recharging, or if you areoperating only on battery due topower failure it will indicate whenyou should suspend operation due toa low battery. Running the batterylower than 10.2 volts will damagethe battery and possibly causedamage to your radio.

Figure 3 is a line drawing of mypower system. The operatingposition lamp is an autodome/courtesy bulb in a freestanding socket that is availablefrom Radio Shack. This lamp ishandy when operating from batterypower during a power failure. Alsoit helps to remind me to turn offall equipment and the power supplywhen finished with an operatingsession. My power cabinet is anold Motorola equipment cabinet thatwas salvaged. My power supply,emergency controller/charger, andbackup batteries are in thecabinet.

Figure 4 shows how to wire abarrier strip to use as adistribution block with inline

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fuses and molded nylon connectors.The barrier strips are alsoavailable at Radio Shack in variousnumbers of connections.

The parts list is as follows:

D1 - IN4001 Diode RS 276-1101D2 - 6 amp 50 PIV Diode RS 276-1661R1 - 0.47 Ohm 5 watt resistor RS271-130L1 - Green 12 Volt Lamp RS 272-337AL2 - Red 12 Volt Lamp RS 272-332C6 Position Barrier Strip RS 274-659RLY1 - SPST 10 amp 12 Volt coil RS275-248Voltmeter - 0 to 15 Voltmeter RS270-1754S1 - DPDT 20 amp Switch RS 275-710**

** The contacts are ganged togetherto double the current capacity.This switch is a center off switch.

(Editors note: Paul added thisaddition to me via Email to answera question I had on his circuit)

The charge circuit is run off apower supply that is set for 13.8volts. With this circuit you havethe batteries connected all thetime. Only when the power supplyis turned on will there be anyactivity by the charger. Thebatteries won't overcharge, as thefloat value of the batteries is13.8 volts. You must be sure when

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the power supply is turned offthere is no equipment turned on asthat will run down the batterieswhen left for an extended time.Any time the supply is on thebatteries are being charged at thefloat voltage. This keeps themtopped up and in full charge

condition for emergency use. Thebatteries are only in use when theswitch is thrown to emergencyposition. I hope this clears upany confusion.

72 de Paul KB0JIT

Fall 19997

Congratulations to Mark MilburnKQ0I!

Several months ago there was anotice in the ARCI QRP Quarterlythat they were looking for aSecretary/Treasurer. Mark appliedfor the position and was given thejob. He officially becameSeretary/Treasurer for QRP ARCI onJuly 1, 1999 (beginning of theirnew fiscal year). Mark stillretains his position as Treasurerfor the Iowa QRP Club. Let's allcongratulate Mark on his newposition and duties!

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A 40 Meter L AntennaBy Tom Upton AD6N

An antenna should be designed totake the maximum amount of voltageand current from the finalamplifier of a transmitter. Power(P) equals Current (I) timesVoltage(E), thus, P = I * E. It isalso helpful if the power envelopecan then be radiated in thedirection we want it to go!

Since I really enjoy reduced power"QRP", I want my antennas to dotheir best for me. Sometimes,though, man proposes but the lotdisposes.

I have one tree I can play with tohelp me with my wire antennas. Itis straight up over the shack, witha healthy branch about 35 feet. Icould, and have, put up an"Inverted V" antenna, but I wantedto experiment with what I call an"L" antenna, because it looks thatway.

It is simply a halfwave dipole,with its quarter wave verticalelement counterpoised by a singlehorizontal quarter wave. I had 12feet of coaxial cable to feed it,so the right angle point was placedat 8 feet above ground. Centerconductor to vertical, shield tohorizontal.

Of course, if the antenna had morequarter wave radials, it would be avertical groundplane. Its patternwould be predominately a low angle"doughnut" of power with the powerlobe toward all horizons.

With one radial, the antenna'spower pokes out toward the horizon,but there is plenty of radiationgoing up and coming down at muchcloser distances than would beusual with a groundplane.

Both elements were inductively endloaded. The vertical element wentover the branch and bent backtowards itself for about 8 feet.The horizontal element lay in aNorth line on the garage roof, withits final 8 feet coiled around ametal ventilator.

With this end loading, the antennawas essentially flat, with noreflected standing wave through theentire 40-meter band. Thatsurprised me! I could use it atany frequency on the band, with noneed to tune the antenna forparticular frequencies.

My QTH (location) is in CentralCalifornia, at 36 North and 119West. Judge the antenna's patternfor yourself, as I easily talked(QRP SSB and mostly CW) on my firstevening on June 12, 1999 with W6VCFin Oregon (north), then with W6INVin Anaheim CA (south), N7DMO inWyoming (ENE). Then on othernights to Phoenix AZ (east) withK7EIJ, NJ4K in North Carolina (muchfarther east!), KL7IYD in Alaska,and K0IPS in Nebraska, and lots ofplaces in between.

There is no question that a northlaying counterpoise should favorthat direction, but the lowfeedpoint seems to make it pay forits keep in other directions, too.

For those of us on a constrictedcity lot, just getting a resonantantenna up there, and healthilyfeeding it with all the voltage and

Fall 19998

current it will hold (even at acouple of watts), teaches us howmuch we can do with how little.

My favorite night was the QSO withKG7MZ in Kalama WA, and the groupin Chico, Fortuna and Eureka CA,when my 3 watts SSB was dropped to1 watt SSB, and they said I soundedbetter!

72, de Tom AD6Nstjohn@ocsnet.net

Tom Upton AD6N was born and raisedin Sioux City, Iowa. He waslicensed as a Novice WN6RJL in 1966in Los Angeles CA. In 1967 hereceived Amateur Radio LicenseWA6DHD as a Technician. In 1990 heachieved Extra Class, and recentlyvanitied to AD6N.

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It's New! It's Small! It's atTarget!

By Cla Cadmus KA0GKC

The Altoids tin has become part ofQRP history thanks to rig designslike the NorCal 49er. Well, historyis very likely to be made again.There is a baby brother Altoids tinout there. A recent post to QRP-Lsent me to the local Target Storewhere I found a display on the endof an aisle dispensing "The TinyTin" Altoids. This little box is

just begging to have a little rigbuilt in it.

I've already started the plans forone including batteries! Theworking name for the rig is, "TheTiny Tin Two". I found that abattery of three 3volt lithium coincells will fit in the bottom andprovide 250mah @ 9volts. Not badfor such a small battery, althoughthe cost is a bit high at about$2.25 a cell. Still, to get it allin such a small case would bemarvelous. SMT construction ofcourse. Now for a good transceivercircuit. Maybe even use a PIC and areally small LCD display. Haven'thad any luck finding the latter inthe usual catalogs. Maybe a few ofyou might want to get together andhelp with the design?

72, de Cla KA0GKCcla@mcg.net

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Direct Digital SynthesisAnd The QRP Amateur

By Jeff Woods W0ODS

"Digital" is the buzzword of thiscomputer age. We hear iteverywhere. The digital domain hasbegun to make inroads into theworld of QRP homebrewers. Digitaltechnology is focused primarily onkeyers and interface circuitry atthis stage.

For many, the allure of QRPoperating and building lies in itssimplicity. A crystal oscillatortransmitter can be the mostefficient way to transmit a signal,both in terms of parts count andcurrent consumption. The QRPamateur has tended to shy away fromimplementing the latest intechnology in order to maintainthis simplicity. Indeed, accordingto Doug Demaw, "Althoughsynthesizers and digital frequencydisplay represent the modern way oflife with expensive commercial ham

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gear, we QRPers seldom use thesetechniques. They contribute tobulky equipment and the associatedcircuitry consumes substantialpower. Neither trait is in keepingwith the QRP theme."1

Over the course of the last year, Ihave built several DDS circuits,and have come to appreciate thatuse of modern, integrated DDS chipsas the frequency determiningelement is truly elegant,efficient, and (yes, you canbelieve it...) simple. Imaginehaving the stability of a crystalcontrolled oscillator with thetuning resolution and range of yourfavorite kilobuck commercial rig.Now, imagine this with twointegrated circuits and no tuning,save for trimming of the referencecrystal oscillator. Imagine itinside your next homebrew project.It really is that easy.

Most people are reluctant to trynew technology simply because thattechnology is not understood. Thebuzzwords "Direct DigitalSynthesis" certainly soundscomplicated. The fact is, theconcept is quite simple tounderstand. It is the purpose ofthis article to explain what isgoing on inside these new wonderchips.

DDS Basics

So what is a "DDS" anyway? Untiltwo or three years ago, I thoughtthat a DDS was the guy who putbraces on me as a kid. Myintroduction to the DDS world camefrom a "73 Magazine" article called"The Julie Board." A short timelater, I joined the staff ofKachina Communications. Kachinawas quite active in their use ofDDS devices in both test equipmentand new production designs.

In its most basic form, a DDS issimply a look-up table and a D/Aconverter. A look-up table is atable implemented in digital form.

An example of a similar table is atax table commonly used at retailstores. It lists the sales taxassociated with various purchaseamounts. So if your morningdoughnut is 45 cents, scanning downthe table to the 45 cent point yousee that the tax is 2 cents. At 50cents, the tax becomes 3 cents.

For the DDS, the input is a count,starting from one and going to thecapacity of the counter. For anexample, lets use a counter of 8.This would be the case for a 3-bitdigital counter. The maximum countfor a given number of bits is 2n,where n is the number if bits.Remember this. We'll come back toit many times.

An 8 entry table would look likethis:

0 Sine 0 degrees (0)1 Sine 45 degrees (0.707)2 Sine 90 degrees (1)3 Sine 135 degrees (0.707)4 Sine 180 degrees (0)5 Sine 225 degrees (-0.707)6 Sine 270 degrees (-1)7 Sine 315 degrees (-0.707)

Notice that we've started with 0.That's the way computers operate.It appears unusual to us, but westill have 8 entries in the tableabove.

Imagine our counter is running. Itstarts at zero, and every so often,at regular intervals called "clockcycles," it increases by one. From7, the counter automaticallyreturns to 0 and begins again.It's rather like your car odometerturning over 100,000 miles. Theleading "1" gets "shifted out,"leaving only the zeros. If youlook at the table, you'll see thateach entry is 45 degrees greaterthan the prior entry. If youextrapolate beyond entry 7, you'llsee that the next entry would be360 degrees, which is the same as 0degrees. By design, that

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Figure 1. Plotted Sine Wave

correlates with our counter'sreturn-to-zero point.

Why the Sine values in the table?Figure 1 is a plotted sine wave ofthe numbers in the table.

This is a rudimentary sine wave.By increasing the number of pointsin our look-up table, the accuracyof the sine wave will increase. Atypical DDS chip will incorporate216 (65,536) to 240 (around onetrillion) entries in its look-uptable. The sine wave produced isquite smooth, which translates to avery low distortion signal.

Unfortunately, there is one morestep remaining in DDSimplementation. This involvesturning the digital amplitude valueback to its analog form, the D/Aconversion. Typical D/A convertersuse anywhere from 8 to 16 bits inconverting the data. Since thenumber of bits used here isgenerally much lower than thenumber of bits used in the look-uptable, it can be assumed that allof the distortion is induced atthis level. The noise floor of aD/A converter is approximately 6 x(number of bits). For the 10 bitconverters in use on my designs,the noise floor is about -60 dBc.

Measurements with a spectrumanalyzer do confirm this figure.

So why all the bits in the look-uptable? For better frequencyresolution. As an example, theAD9851 uses a 32 bit look-up tableand a 180 Mhz clock frequency. Thefrequency resolution, as given by:

Resolution = Fclk / 2n is 0.041Hertz.

An interesting note is that byadding a fixed offset to thecounter, we can independentlycontrol the phase of the signal,too. By adding half the number ofbits in the look-up table to thecounter value, we instantlyimplement a 180 degree phase shift.This might be useful for generatingPSK signals, for example. By usingtwo DDS chips, one offset 90degrees from the other, one cangenerate nearly perfect quadraturesignals for use in Phasing typefrequency converters. A pair ofDDS chips, a pair of mixers and apair of audio amplifiers can beused as a single signal directconversion receiver. I think thisis pretty nifty!

Limitations

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Once upon a time, there was a guynamed Nyquist. Now he thoughtabout what mathematicians call'sampling theory.' And he figuredout that you can re-create a signalif you can take a snapshot of it'svalue every once in a while. It'swhat we call "digitizing." WhatNyquist wanted to do was to define"every once in a while." He didthe math and figured out that onemust take a sample at least twiceas quickly as the highest frequencycomponent in the signal. Anyslower, and an effect called"aliasing" occurs, whichessentially wraps high frequencycomponents down to lowerfrequencies.

Figure 2 (above) illustrates thiseffect.

In this case, a 300 Mhz clock ischosen. You can see the Nyquist

Limit specified at 150 Mhz here.Now, the Nyquist limit is fine intheory. But like so manytheoretical constructs, there areother factors. In this case, it'sfilter skirts. What the figureabove does not show clearly is thespur at 220 Mhz, or Fclk - Fout.As your Fout increases, that firstalias product decreases, until theymeet and eventually cross at 150Mhz (Nyquist Frequency). So onemust allow for a reasonable lowpass filter to attenuate the firstmixing alias product. Generally,one can get away with outputs atabout 40% of the clock frequency.

Now suppose one was trying tosynthesize a frequency in the VHF

range. By constructing a band-passfilter, any of those spurs we tryso desperately to eliminate in HFservice can be selected. One couldpull the Fclk - Fout product, set

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the clock at 180 Mhz and Fout for36 Mhz and have a spiffy 144 Mhzsynthesizer. Slick, eh?

One Implementation

Perhaps the most suitable DDS chipfor amateur use is the AnalogDevices AD9851. This chip containsan on-board clock multiplier andD/A converter. The maximum clockspeed of this device is 180 Mhz,allowing useful output up to about70 Mhz. Programming is done via a40 bit serial data stream.

This IC does have a couple ofdrawbacks. First, the package is aSMD SSOP package. The leads are 25mil pitch, making it somewhatdifficult to solder, and virtuallyimpossible to implement without asuitable printed circuit board.Several boards are available forthis device, including one from FARcircuits 2.

The second drawback of this IC isits power consumption. At 180 Mhzclock input and 5v supplies thislittle chip draws around 100 mA.The current drops to 30 mA at 60Mhz when operated off a 3.3Vsupply. A 60 Mhz clock issufficient for clean output up to20 Mhz, enough to drive adownconversion superhet or DirectConversion set. Now, this soundslike a lot of current when comparedto the parsimonious current draw ofa well-designed QRP receiver.However the low operating voltagesof the 9851 can be used to ouradvantage. In applicationsrequiring low current consumption amodern 80 to 90% efficientswitching regulator can be employedto convert the 12v supply down to5v or 3.3v. As an example, a fullclock frequency DDS powered off 12vby an 80% efficient switcher willdraw only 18 mA. This figure isfar more palatable to the designer.The 3.3v, 60 Mhz circuit powered bythe same 80% efficient regulatorbrings the 12v current draw down to

just 10 mA! Although a well-designed VFO or PLL circuit can bedesigned to draw less current, thetrade-off in simplicity andmultiband operation is oftenworthwhile.

So much for the Theory...

But what you really want to know ishow to actually use this littlebeast. First, buy a circuit board.Do NOT attempt to breadboard this!You'll get eyestrain. If you don'tgo insane first. For many of us,insanity is close enough to beginwith, so don't push it. Asmentioned previously, FAR circuitshas a board based on a July '97 QEXarticle titled "Building a DirectDigital Synthesis VFO." Fred at FARgets $7.50 per board plus $1.50 forup to 4 boards for shipping. Hiscontact info appears at the end ofthis article. The QEX DDS had somelimitations on board layout, so Idesigned a new circuit in anattempt to reduce some of themixing products in the output ofthe QEX synthesizer. It should bementioned here that the originalQEX article by Curtis W. Preussused the AD9850 and a 60 Mhz clockinput. Since it operated at alower frequency, the spurioussignals were not much of a problem.But I wanted to use the AD9851(Same pinout, but up to 180 MHZclocking) as a Local Oscillator foran up-conversion receiver. Thisparticular receiver (exhibited atthe West Liberty hamfest) used a 45Mhz IF. Thus, for a receivedfrequency of 30 Mhz, the LO mustrun at 75 Mhz. The maximumrecommended output frequency of theAD9851 is 72 Mhz, so clearly thingswould get hairy at the upper end ofthe tuning range.

My buddy and master PC layoutengineer Pete Gianakopolus took alook at the data sheets for the DDSand realized that this chip usesthree power supply voltage andreturn pins. On the Preuss design,

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all were tied together. The reasonfor separate lines is to isolatenoise from one section of the ICand keep that noise from corruptingother sections. The three powersupplies covered the Logic, PLL andDAC. Since a multi-layer board wasnot an option, we chose to use RCcoupling on each power input pinand tie all the returns to ground.This is implemented by using asmall value resistor, typically 10to 100 ohms depending on currentdraw, with a capacitor shunting thedevice power pin to ground. Thiskeeps the power supply noisegenerated by the PLL and logic frommaking its way into the criticalDAC analog section. We saw around12 dB improvement in spurioussignals by using these methods.

Oh, and we have a few of theseboards left over. Pete wants theprincely sum of $3 a piece. What agent! Contact the author forboards. Note that these are bareboards, no silkscreen, and aredesigned for SMD components. it ispossible to use standard leadedcomponents on the board, however.The buyer must also drill the holesfor leaded components and groundvias. We wouldn't want to cheatanyone out of the true homebrewexperience, now would we?

The basic circuit consists of theDDS chip, a PIC 16F84 (Codeavailable from the author, more onthis later) a 30 Mhz TTL clockoscillator and an LCD display.You'll also need to supply a rotaryshaft encoder and a pushbuttonswitch. Or be a big spender andbuy the encoder with a built-inswitch that activates when you pushthe knob in, like a car radio.

The PIC is a microcontroller thatspends its life worrying aboutwhether you pressed a button orturned the encoder shaft. When itfinds that something has happened,it takes action. For encoderrotation, the micro multiplies thevalue indicated on the display by a

tuning constant using somecomplicated 32 bit math on an 8 bitprocessor, sends the result to the9851, then updates the LCD display.If the micro detects that youpressed the button, it flashes acursor on the active tuning digit.By turning the knob, you can selectthe digit that will be changed whenthe knob turns. The micro is alsocapable of supplying an offsetfrequency to use this circuit as anLO. This value is hard-coded, soif you want code with an offset,the source code that programs thePIC chip must be changed.

Meanwhile, the DDS is churning outnumbers and producing a nice sinewave output. We take the output,properly terminate it and filterand amplify the signal to get thelevel needed for the radio.There's space on our board for twofilters, generally a high pass andlow pass to make a band pass. Wealso provide pads for a MMIC tobump up the signals to a higherlevel. I've had good successdriving level 7 mixers such as theSBL-1 directly from the DDS, butthe mixer is starved a bit in thatcase. Still, it beats an NE602hands down for performance. A 10dB gain MMIC will give you someroom for slop and filter loss.

Conclusion

Warm up that iron, folks, and startbuilding. The interest expressedin this technology has beenoverwhelming. This primer providesthe basics for building a DDS basedcircuit and has shown how thesedevices work on the inside. Whilethe idea of having a microprocessorinside your next radio may notappeal to you, perhaps you'll feel,as I did, that in this case thecircuit simplicity is improved,rather than degraded.

I can be contacted via E-mail atmycrocomm@plutonium.net, or thestandard 600-ohm service at 319-

Fall 199914

435-2303. I pledge to supportanyone wishing to get his or herfeet wet and build some really funstuff.

Parts Sources:

The AD9851 can be obtained in smallquantities from Allied Electronicsat 1-800-433-5700, orwww.allied.avnet.com. I also carrya small quantity and will act as aconsolidation point for orders.Higher quantities get a significantprice break from Allied. Marketcost is in the $25 range for thispart. Search on the Web atwww.analog.com for data on all theAnalog Devices DDS chips.

Boards and programmed PICs areavailable from the author. Boardsare $3 each and programmed PICchips at $10 each. I will providethe source code or those wishing toplay with the assembler code. Someof the recent QST articles onsimple PIC programmers providesufficient information for thosegetting into PIC programming. Ialso highly recommend the book EasyPIC'n by David Benson, published bySquare 1 (www.sq-1.com).

FAR Circuits can be reached at

FAR Circuits18N640 Field CourtDundee, IL 60118

FAX: 847-836-9148

Ask for July '97 QEX DDS board.Reprints of the article are alsoavailable for an additional $1.50.FAR charges an extra $3.00 forcredit card orders.

1 Demaw, "W1FB's QRP Notebook,"1991, ARRL

72,de Jeff W0ODSmycrocomm@plutonium.net

SST X-10MBy Mike Fitzgibbon N0MF

Most experienced QRP operators arefamiliar with Wayne Burdick'spopular SST transceiver. It is notonly available as a kit for 40, 30,and 20 meters from WildernessRadio, but it also can easily beconfigured for other bands bysimply changing a few componentvalues.

This is mainly accomplished bychanging crystals in the variablecrystal oscillator (VXO), IF/BFO,and transmit mixer. It is alsopossible, I have found, to put iton 10 meters by using a 16 MHzcrystal in the VXO, followed by asimple diode frequency doubler toattain a 32.0 MHz VXO signal. ThisVXO signal is then mixed with thesame IF frequency as the 15 and 20M versions (3.93 MHz) to produce ausable frequency range in the 10meter band which covers the popularQRP frequency and a bit more. Inthe "experimental" unit here, thefrequency coverage is 28.043 to.063 using two different switchedvaractors in the VXO.

Since the design of the standardSST does not utilize any IFamplification, but relies entirelyupon the conversion gain of theNE602/612, the 10 meter version instandard form will suffer from alack of gain due to the higherfrequency. To add some performanceto the rig, a simple grounded-gateFET preamplifier was added to thefront end of the receiver, alongwith an equally simple IFamplifier, which is added post-crystal filter, before the productdetector. These two littlecircuits, along with the parts forthe VXO frequency doubler, will addabout thirty or so components tothe current count of about 80 forthe standard SST, and theiraddition is simple to beaccomplished.

Fall 199915

So, how does it work? Well,signals on ten meters, when theband is up, sound like the 40 meterversion of the radio, maybe even alittle stronger. Strong signalswill readily fire the LED "agcleveling device" and quite oftenthe gain must be reduced to keepone's ears from ringing. A fewweeks ago, from here in westernIowa, I worked Goran, EA8YU, in theCanaries, by calling CQ using asimple vertical dipole hung in atree at 25 feet or so...539 bothways...Goran was running a K2 at 3watts into a random wire. Alsoworked Dean, KH6B, in Hilo, a dayor so before with the same antenna.The X-10M puts out about 2 wattswith a MRF-237 final at 13.8 volts,and about 1.5 watt on a fresh gelcell. With normal "healthy"signals, the gain must be reducedconsiderably, and very strongsignals can be heard with the RFattenuator completely shut down andthe AF gain at 50% or so usinginexpensive Radio Shack headphones.OK, now for the ingredients...

The frequency doubler, preamp, andIF amp are all proven, publishedcircuits which are availablewidely. I have not included theschematics here, but will give thesources. They will not be obscureto any experienced qrper.

I might note now...all the circuitsin this experimental (hey... that'swhat the "X" is for!) rig werebuilt on separate single-sidedboards. The receiver, transmitter,VXO/freq. doubler, preamp, IF amp,and TICK keyer are each on adifferent board. Those boards areeither attached to the enclosurewith small right-angle brackets orto another board, back-to-back(glass-to-glass) with 4-40hardware. This not only makes itextremely simple to build, but itprovides an easy way to alterthings. See the accompanyingphotos, listed below.

Also, I might direct you to thearticle on building a 15-meter SSTin the spring '99 issue of this on-line publication. The pad-and-gluebuilding method, along with a fewother modifications (such as theadjustable transmit-monitoringcircuitry, dual-varactor tuning,and power mods) are containedwithin that piece. This radio isbuilt using the schematic from theWilderness kit, which differsslightly in a few components andcomponent values from the schematicin "QRPp" (Spring issue, '97).Those differences I will try tonote below.

Photo 1. VXO/Doubler board.Varactors are soldered on top andbottom of DPDT switch.

The frequency doubler is simplyadded onto the standard SST VXOcircuitry into which you have put a16 MHz crystal (Digi-Key X143-ND).It is from the classic "Solid StateDesign for the Radio Amateur", page44, figure 24. It contains twodiodes and a 2N2222 amp. It issimple to build. I used 26 T(turns) on a T50-2 toroid for RFC3,the VXO inductor. You may have tovary this a bit to get the tuningrange you desire. The tunedcircuit on the output of thedoubler contains a T50-6 toroidwith 19 T on the primary and 3 T onthe secondary. It is adjusted toresonance (max power out consistentwith the best looking waveform on ascope) with a 2-20 pF trimmer.

Fall 199916

Photo 2. RF preamp board

The receiver preamp is from "W1FB'sDesign Notebook". It is located onpage 61, figure 3-18A. It uses anordinary 2N4416 FET. The tunedinput uses a T37-6 toroid with anL1 winding of 8 T and L2 winding of16 T, tapped at 4 T up from thegrounded end. The output's tunedcircuit also uses a T37-6 with 16 Ton L3, 8 T on L4. Doug (W1FB)always said to wind the secondariesover the grounded end of theprimaries, so I always do... Boththe input and output are resonatedwith 5-70 pF trimmers. Just tunefor max band noise/signal.

I tried adding a little input-protection circuitry to the preamp,the same as is on the input of the'602 mixer in the original design.Feed the input signal from the low-pass filter (transmitter) through a5 pF cap, with an NPM 3700 diode toground (via a .1 uF cap) on theother side of the 5 pF cap. Also,at the junction of the PIN diodeand 5 pF cap, attach a 1N914 withthe banded end attached to thekeying line with a jumper. I don'tknow if this is absolutelynecessary, I just like to avoidsmoke and blown parts. Have enoughof them as it is...

The IF amp is also simply stolen.It is from Dave Fifield's NC20, and

contains all the parts between andincluding R34 through C36. Thereis a 2N5179 and a 2N3904 in there.This is one area of the radio thatprobably could use a little moredevelopment...impedance matchingthe IF amp to the xtal filter andthe product detector input. I leftall the original SST parts in thereand simply inserted the IF amp atthe back end of the xtal filter,between the last xtal and the 12 uHchoke. BTW...these 12 uH chokes(one on each side of the filter)are not included in the original"QRPp" article schematic, but arean addition to the kit schematic,in addition to changing C6 and C9to 100 pF. It seems to work wellas-is, but I'd guess there is someimpedence mismatch. That's anothergood reason for the "X". It iscertainly a point for furthertinkering. The NC20 circuitry canbe found in the Summer '99 issue ofQRPp, the NORCAL journal (seebelow), and, of course, theschematic for the Red Hot NC20,which Dave now sells as a kit (andan excellent kit it is).

Photo 3. IF amp board

A few additional points...The low-pass output filter is also from aQRP "cookbook". . See "W1FB'sDesign Notebook", page 160, table6-1 for 10 meter values. A 2.2 uHchoke from the final's base to

Fall 199917

Photo 4. Mounted IF and RF boards.

ground was added to "up" thetransmitter output a wee bit. Ahomebrew TICK keyer board was alsoadded. It is the little board downin between the receiver and VXOboards, at the bottom of the box.A 5/16" hole in the bottom of theenclosure near the front was madeto vent the keyer annunciator.

A few more details: L1 in thetransmitter is 17T on a T37-6.Omit C27 and resonate the tunedcircuit with only a 70 pF trimmer.R10 changed to 120 ohms forincreased power output. Also, inthe VXO, C19 and C20 have beenchanged to 100 pF from the 82 pF asindicated in the "QRPp" schematic.Additionally, pin 7 of the audioamp has a 2.2 uF cap to ground(neg. lead to ground, natch!) andC16 is now .022 uF. Also, I findthat my LM386 audio amps howl withsome headphones, so a 1 uF cap was

added (nonpolarized) across theamp's output (to ground) to quellthis little tendency. You can alsowire the phone drivers in series toprevent this, if you somehowisolate the phone jack ground fromthe chassis ground.

The transmitter and receiver (sansRF and IF amps) were built on 27/8" square boards with plenty ofroom to spread things out a bit.The RF amp is on a 1 1/8" X 2 1/2"board, and the IF amp is on a chunkof 1 1/8 X 1 1/2" PCB. Theenclosure is a 3 X 4 X 5" Budminibox from Mouser Electronics.It was selected large enough toprovide room to "grow".

See the article on building a 15 MSST in the 1999 spring issue of theon-line Iowa QRP Club Journal foradditional SST mods and referencesfor mods and materials. I will

Fall 199918

Photo 5. The completed rig.

also try to help anyone who makes arequest. My E-mail ismjfitz@uswest.net. I do not have ascanner so I cannot send you anyschematics...sorry. If you come upwith any mods or improvements (VERYpossible...), I would certainlylike to hear about them. An E-mailwith the details would be greatlyappreciated. I just hack away atthis stuff, it's always a learningexperience and great fun for me.

72, de Mike N0MFmjfitz@uswest.net

***********************************

ELECRAFT K2 Transceiver KitBy John DePrimo K1JD

(Editors note: This article hasalso been submitted to FOCUS,quarterly magazine for the First

Class CW Operator's Club based inthe UK but has not been yetpublished.)

During a two-week trip to Okinawalast summer, I began thinking moreand more about getting a small rigto bring along with me on businessor vacation. Affordability, smallsize and weight were of courseimportant factors. While listeningaround the QRP frequencies, I heardvery positive references to a newrig called an Elecraft K2, a kitdesigned by several of the guysinvolved with the highly thought ofWilderness Radio QRP rigs. It is asophisticated microprocessorcontrolled, very compact 10w radio,which covers all bands except 160mwhere an optional board isavailable. Base price is $549. Theweb site, www.elecraft.com, plusall the chatter on the Internet and

Fall 199919

on the QRP frequencies provided allthe convincing I needed. A K2 wasordered back in February withestimated delivery in late May. Atthat time, there were about ahundred beta test units being builtand each of the hundred hams weresolicited to provide comments onthe manual, the rig, constructionproblems, etc such that the firstproduction run would be vastlyrefined.

The kit (SN#139) finally arrived on6/23 due to various delays incompleting the production units.The package itself was much smallerthan imagined - very cleverly andefficiently done.

The kit consists of 3 boards:Control, Front Panel and RF, thelatter being the largest one withthe most components. I have notcounted all the components, butthere has to be over 500 parts. Theproject is divided roughly intothirds with testing and alignmentat the conclusion of each. Builtin test equipment, such as afrequency counter and DVM, providethe tools to do a completealignment. The kit and manual areso well done that construction isreasonably straightforward;however, according to Elecraft beprepared to dedicate about 30 hoursto the task! Mine took almostexactly 30 hours.

I invested in several things upfront to make the job easier andthe final product better. I found alamp with a round fluorescent bulband large magnifying glass builtright in. If you think thecomponents themselves are tiny,wait until you try to read the IDmarkings on them! I purchased aWeller WTCPT soldering station,Kessler IC grade solder with 2%silver, a digital multi-metercapable of measuring capacitanceand diodes as well as voltage andresistance (invaluable forverifying component values), andlastly a Pana-Vice to securely hold

PC boards during the constructionand allow them to be angled androtated as required.

The total project was completedover a one-week period.Construction time was about 4 hoursfor the control board and 3 hours15 minutes for the front panelboard. Another 3 hours 45 minutesbrought me to the first test of thepartial assembly (i.e., the firstthird was done). Here you assemblethe partial unit by plugging thecontrol board and front panel intothe RF board and, using 2D modularfasteners, attaching the side andbottom panels. After applying 12vpower the display should come up"Info 201" and then "7100.00 c."The c is the mode indicator for cw.You then test the built-in digitalvolt/current meter, opticalencoder, latching relays, keyer andsidetone/audio amplifier, andperform a s-meter alignment and barmeter current test. When I poweredmine up, I got "info 080" which inthe detailed troubleshootingsection meant there was somethingwrong with the input/outputcontroller circuit on the RF board.

To make a 3-day story very short,tweaking a small trimmer capacitoron the Control board about 45degrees clockwise from the positionspecified in the manual completelyresolved the problem. The folks atElecraft were extremely attentivevia email and helped me through thedifficulty. This would be the onlyproblem encountered during theentire construction effort.

Another 9.5 hours of constructionbrought me to the second partialassembly alignment and test. Atthis point you have the front halfof the RF board complete and mustplug everything back togetheragain. You then work through thePLL reference oscillator, VCO(voltage controlled oscillator),BFO test and alignment, VFOlinearization, IF amplifieralignment and 40 meter Band Pass

Fall 199920

filter alignment. You actually hookup your earphones at this point andlisten to 40 meters. The receiversounded excellent! Every test andprocedure was completelysuccessful, so on with the lastpart - including winding the vastmajority of the toroids.

The most memorable part of thekit's last third was winding,stripping the enamel off the leadsand installing all of thosetoroids, but the manual does asuperb job of getting you throughit. Final alignment and testfollows: 40m transmit alignment,VFO linearization on all bands,receiver pre-alignment, andtransmitter alignment on all bandsis last. As many bands were open onthe evening of 6/30, the transmitalignment took a lot longer as Iwould stop to work stations as eachband was completed! Of specialnote, the rig's first QSO was on40m with Puck, W4PM! Final assemblyfollowed with installation of thespeaker and all the top, bottom andside pieces. Fully assembled, theK2's modular construction makes itfeel solid as a brick. The rig'scontrols and the microprocessormenu functions are straightforward,and after a brief orientation themanual is no longer needed.

The front panel of the K2 has only6 knobs including a heavy, machinedmain tuning knob, keyer speed(programmable Curtis A or B), powerlevel in 0.1w increments, RF and AFgain, and RIT/XIT. The 16 buttons(not including the larger on/offswitch) each support multiplefunctions by "tapping" or "holding"them. In addition, the Band+ andBand- buttons can be pushed at thesame time to allow direct frequencyentry. Tapping/holding the menubutton gains access to many lessfrequently needed performance orcalibration functions. There aretwo VFO's with split capability,selectable preamp/attenuator/off,fast and slow AGC, memory keyermessage capability, and selectable

tuning rate to facilitate rapidQSY. You can customize up to 4 I/Ffilter configurations for eachmode. CW reverse is also available.

The scanning function is reallyslick, moving smoothly from onestation to the next betweenoperator-defined limits. The rig'sconfiguration can be optimized forreduced battery operation ifnecessary.

As I write this on 7/5, I've filledtwo logbook pages with K2 contactson all bands including LZ1AF,OZ8RO, K4EF, W3VT, G4PKT, G4KGG,W5FOC (K5NA), G8PG, SV9/G4VXE,K4BAI, K5BGB and DK8EI. Several ofthese (including Tim in SV9) wereusing my Hercules II amp driven bythe K2 to 150-200w with full QSK.Speaking of QSK, and with all duerespect to my fantastic OMNI VI,the Elecraft is subjectively thebest sounding QSK I've ever heard.The K2's sensitivity measured upvery well to the OMNI VI during A/Bcomparisons. Selectivity using theK2's programmable filters farexceeded my expectations but can'tcompete with OMNI's cascadedfilters. Of course, the OMNI costs5 times as much! I understand thatElecraft plans on offering morefilter options in the future, aswell as a 100w PA module which fitsin the same small physicalenvelope, and a computer interface.

An excellent test of a rig'sfrequency stability is the newdigital mode you've been hearingabout: PSK31. Hooking up my PSK31adapter to this laptop demonstratedthe K2's rock-like stability withnear perfect phase displays (yes,the person transmitting on theother end must be stable too). Ihave ordered the K2 SSB optionspecifically to experiment morewith low power PSK31. At last, ause for the microphone connector!

This radio is not a QRP toy; it isa serious radio with a driven andimaginative company behind it. A

Fall 199921

multitude of options in the futurewill further refine performance andcapability. If you have an itch tobuild something substantial and/orwant a backup or travel radio,check this out.

72, de John K1JDK1JD@aol.com

***********************************

IAQRP at West Liberty Hamfest RecapBy John Burnley NU0V

(The following is an updated postfrom IAQRP-L and QRP-L)

What possible fun can there be on acold and rainy day? Why spreadingthe good word about low poweroperating (QRP) of course!

The Iowa QRP Club had a displaytable at the West Liberty hamfeston Sunday October 3. The weatherwas chilly and rainy and I wasconcerned that the outdoor fleamarket would be impacted.

Well it did rain most of the dayand the outdoor flea market wasaffected, but that sent a lot ofpeople indoors to stop by the IAQRPdisplay to talk about low poweroperating!

There were lots of QRP goodies thatmembers brought for show-n-tell.Jeff Woods (W0ODS) brought hishomebrew general coveragecommunications receiver and a49'er. Both are very impressive!Jeff is really an excellentbuilder. The homebrew receiver hasa digital VFO with display. We hadfun listening to the BBC and laterreceiving transmissions from aPIXIE 2 that was also on the table.Walt Holling (N9MZP) brought a MarkII NN1G transceiver (built by Waltbut autographed by Dave Bensonhimself), homebrew tuner, and aPixie 2 mounted in a radar detectorcase. Larry Stambaugh (WB0RMT)brought his NWxx transceiver(Dan's), tuner, and power supply.

All three are in matching cases andwas the subject of a fine articleLarry wrote for the IAQRPnewsletter earlier this year. Healso brought an NC20, super CMOSkeyer, NorCal paddles, and a Pixie2. John (NU0V) brought an MFJ-9017,Emtech ZM-1 (with AZsQRPion LED SWRindicator kit installed), Pixie 2,38 special, Ten Tec 6 meterreceiving converter, Fireball 40transmitter, KnightSmite, and aSuperTick keyer.Thanks to all who brought items asthey really made the displayimpressive.

There was also vendor informationfrom Small Wonder Labs, MilestoneTechnologies, MFJ, Ten Tec, HandsElectronics, Kanga US, and 'Joy ofQRP' by Ade Weiss (W0RSP) flyers.Sample newsletters from NorCal, G-QRP, ARCI, St. Louis QRP Society,CW Operators QRP Club, NW QRP, and(of course) the Iowa QRP Club werethere as well.

My first surprise of the day wasWalt (N9MZP). He stopped by to sayhello and talk about QRP. He saw aprevious posting (of mine) on QRP-Labout the IAQRP participation atthe hamfest and sent me an Email.He was there bright and early andstopped by to say hello. Plus hebrought some of his goodies for thetable (even though he was not amember of the club....but hopefullythat will change). Now this is areal QRP'er!

Another highlight of the day wasthe St. Louis Audio Amp boardsdonated by the St. Louis QRPSociety. The boards were availableto anyone who wanted them plus ifthe kit was built at our display weprovided the board mounted parts.

We gave away many boards and hadtwo built at the hamfest. Thanksto Jeff (W0ODS) who brought thesoldering station and industrialvise which made things very easyfor our builders (best to spoilthem early hi). Again our thanks

Fall 199922

to the SLQS and Dave Gauding (NF0R)for their support!

NorCal donated an Elmer 101 issueand logbook as doorprizes.Congratulations to Jon Book(KB0EDE) who won the Elmer 101issue and Randy Swemline KB9KUZ whowon the logbook. Once again mythanks to Doug and Jim of NorCalwho have always supported our club.

The crowd was a good one and thetable seemed to be hopping quite abit. I finally took a break nearlunch time to make a 'quick pass'of the vendor area. It didn't takelong before I was at Paul Washa'stable(s). Paul as you recallhelped the IAQRP Club put togetherseveral group buys on books lastyear. There is another one inthe works which should be announcedin late October or early November.I always buy a book from Paul as hehas quite a inventory that hebrings to these events. I pickedup a copy of the new ARRL AntennaCompendium when I noticed afamiliar book. Paul now carriesthe 'Joy of QRP' by Ade Weiss(W0RSP). For those of you whoneeding a copy look Paul up at ahamfest. It is a classic QRP bookand many consider it to be the'bible' on QRP!

Finally the time came to pack upand head back west to the DesMoines area. It was a great day(to be indoors hi) and a lot of funspreading the good word.

I would like to thank the followingpeople who helped out with thedisplay: Jeff Woods (W0ODS), LarryStambaugh (WB0RMT), Walt Holling(N9MPZ) and Alex Stambaugh(KC0EBK). You guys made the displaya real success!

72, de John NU0Vburnleyia@home.com

***********************************Painless Registration For The ULS

By Jerry Bartachek KD0CA

(Editor's note: The UniversalLicensing System or ULS allowsexpanded electronic filing ofAmateur Radio applications. HereJerry walks us through the processhe encountered to become registeredto use the ULS. Additionalinformation may also be found inthe September 1999 QST pages 85-86.)

In response to my plea for helpwith ULS registration on the QRP-L,I received the following Emails:

(From Mike Melland W9WIS)

Hi Jerry,

I registered for ULS ID this morning. It'snot mysterious...... the Gov't wants to cutcosts so many FCC transactions are going tobe "self initiated" over the web. Go to theULS site and register. You will be given anumber and you choose your own password andenter your TIN (Tax Payer ID Number aka yourSocial Security Number). You register yourcallsign and after that you can renew etc.online. That's all there is to it. And,yes amateur radio is participating in ULSfrom August 16 on...... There is no seperateULS license, just the means to performlicense related transactions via theweb........ renewals, changes of address,etc....... doing away with paper forms....

(From Timothy J. Strong KG2NO)

Hi Jerry,

Yes, any licensed operator (US or foreign)that has a valid US Amateur Radio licensewill be required to register with the ULS.You will not get another license, it is justa matter of associating your Social SecurityNumber (Taxpayer Identification Number) withany callsign(s) that you have. Anyone whodoes not have a TIN will be required toobtain one.

Jerry, you have to read the entire page,look under the heading: "Radio ServicesCurrently Implemented In the ULS" and youwill see Amateur listed here.

An Amateur with 2 callsigns would list bothcallsigns when they register.

You do not have to immediately register withULS, only if you want to do business withthe FCC such as upgrade your license, changeyour callsign, change your address, etc. Ibelieve new licensees and upgrades will beable to register via the VECs.

Fall 199923

August 16 is just the date that the FCCstarted using the system for Amateur Radio.

Using the e-mail exhortationsabove, I registered under the newUnifor Licensing System (ULS). Asthe name implies, it is a SYSTEM,but not a separate type of license.Many classes of radio licenses arebeing included in this program, andin short it is only a system tomake license renewals and upgradesEASIER for the licensees to dealwith via the internet.

After the QRP-L'ers advised me, Ibravely pointed my browser to theFCC ULS site and registered. Itwas quite painless, and filling outtheir on-line forms to beintuitive.

Here are the steps in registeringfor ULS via the internet:

1. Point your browser to:http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/uls. Thereis a lot of information there aboutall the details about ULS. You'llonly need to click on one of theURLs to go to more information thanyou can imagine!

2. While you are on the ULS homepage, click on the button labeled:"TIN / Callsign Registration" inthe left hand column of the screento register your station with ULS.

3. After clicking that button youwill be presented with a form tofill out on line. You will bepresented with 2 choices to clickon. One is a chance to participatein a survey about your station'sY2K readiness. The other is forthe TIN / Callsign Registration(click on this one).

4. You'll see s a sentence thatreads, " If you are not registeredwith the Universal LicensingSystem:" and just below it there isa little circle field next to thewords "Register Now". Click thatcircle and then click the buttonlabeled "Continue".

5. Next you get more questions toanswer. Click on the choice forregistering with the ULS as anindividual and then click the"continue" button.

6. You will be presented with alarge on-line form to fill out andsubmit. Items on the top of theform for the Licensee Informationincludes your TIN (your socialsecurity No.), first name, middleinitial, last name, P.O. Box orstreet address, city, state, zip,telephone, fax number, and e-mailaddress. Directly below that isanother set of fields exactly asabove for the Contact Information.Since hams are not a commercialstation with separate licensee, andcontact person information, Idecided NOT to fill out the contactinfo. As licensee, I am my owncontact person.

Further below on the form you willfind fields for a password,verification of the password, and apersonal identifier that only youwould know. These last three youMUST fill out. I used my callsignas my password, and my userid hereat work on our lan as my specialidentifier. Maybe your mother-in-law's waist size could be used(hi).

When all the desired fields arefilled out, click on the submitbutton. It will prompt you to fillout a huge sheet wherein you canlist all your callsigns if you haveless than 100 of them. Take itfrom me, you have less than 100 ofthem! Just click on the choice for1-100 callsigns, and put youramateur radio callsign in spacenumber 1, and click on submit.

Before the whole process is done,the registration computer will showyou a screen with your password,special identifier, and a computergenerated ULS number and a ULSpassword. You will really WANT toprint this screen out on yourprinter. You will not be able to

Fall 199924

see that information anywhereagain. And the ULS nubmer theygive you will be about 9 or 10digits long. The computer-generated password, will be wierdlike, "AXM9ZT%WW" or similargobbledyegook. Hey,"gobbledyegook" would be a greatpassword!

When you wish to modify or renewyour license in the future, youwill use the ULS system to do it online, and you will then need yourpasswords, etc.

There are instructions on the firstULS web page for registering viasnail mail, but I hope someone elsewill write that up for the Iowa QRPNewsletter.

72, de Jerry KD0CAjbartac@max.state.ia.us

***********************************

Group Buy With Paul Washa Books

The Iowa QRP Club is pleased toannounce a group buy from PaulWasha Books (W0TOK). There areseveral titles available. Justremember to specify the Iowa QRPClub group purchase when contactingPaul. These prices reflect USAshipping (all 50 states). Any DXorders should contact Paul first tosee if he can accommodate them.

Here are the details:

ARRL 2000 Handbook without software$28.00 delivered

ARRL Antenna Compendium 6 withsoftware $17.00 delivered

ARRL W1FB Design Notebook$11.00 delivered

ARRL Solid State Design$14.00 delivered

ARRL Intro To RF Design withsoftware $24.00 delivered

ARRL Antenna Handbook with software(18th edition) $24.00 delivered

Joy of QRP by Adrian Weiss (W0RSP)$21.00 delivered

ARRL Mini Logbook (approx 6'' by4'') $5.00 delivered (Paul tells methat the minilog is great for minipower stations and will fit abackpack or small case just finefor portable work)

ARRL 1999 Satellite Anthology$13.00 delivered

If you would like to see any othertitles please Email NU0V privately.

How to order: You must contact Pauland specifically mention the IowaQRP group purchase. You maycontact Paul atw0tok@email.msn.com or phone (612)472-8991. His address is:

Paul Washa (W0TOK)4916 Three Points BoulevardMound, MN 55364-1245

He will accept checks or moneyorders (but no credit cards). Thisgroup buy will run 30 days. IAQRPmembers attending the Des Moineshamfest on Sunday October 31st maypurchase books there (pricesadjusted for no shipping).

***********************************

Upcoming Operating EventsBy Mark Milburn KQ0I

Here are some QRP operating eventsthat will be coming up. Turn yourpower down and join in.

They are fun events and the peopleyou meet will be some of the besthams on the air. Plus you'll beable to pick up a lot of states andwork some milliwatters, too!

Adventure Radio Society SpartanSprint

Fall 199925

November 1, 1999December 6, 1999

The Spartan Sprint will be held asusual on this first Monday of themonth). We will be operating onthree bands--80, 40, and 20. Thereare winners in two categories:points (the Tubby Division), andpoints per pound (the SkinnyDivision).

1. Start at 9:00 PM EST, 8:00 CST,7:00 MST and 6:00 PST. Finish at11:00 PM EST, 10:00 CST, 9:00 MSTand 8:00 PST.

2. The frequencies will be 3560kHz+-, 7040 kHz+- and 14060 KHz+-.(You may operate one, two or threebands--your choice.)

3. Exchange RST, SPC (state,province or country) and poweroutput.

4. If you choose to call CQ, usethe format "CQ SP," or "CQ SPTEST."

5. You can take credit for workingthe same station on a second band.

After the contest, you may use anautolog, which is part of the ARSSojourner. Just go towww.natworld.com/ars and followthe link for "Direct access toautologs". Or you can speed thingsup by going directly to the SpartanSprint autolog page atwww.natworld.com/ars/ss_log.html.

If you don't have access to theweb, send Russ Carpenter, AA7QU,an e-mail with your total QSOs andthe total weight of your station(i.e. the combined weight of alltransmitters, receivers, keys,keyers and batteries used duringthe Sprint). You may also includeyour comments from the soapbox.Russ' email address isruss@natworld.com.

Results for each Spartan Sprint arepublished on the Thursday following

the Sprint. This may be the world'squickest contest reporting! Pleasesend your log as soon as possible,but in no event later thanWednesday afternoon.

The Spartan Sprint is based on asimple but stimulating concept. TheARS is encouraging all of you tocobble together the kind of stationyou'd use in a portable environment—lightweight transceiver, keyer,key, and battery. Then put thatturkey on the air, and participatein a two hour sprint.

All operators are invited to play,whether or not they are members ofAdventure Radio Society. Even ifyou don't have lightweightequipment, your participation willbe rewarding, both for you and theother participants. We'll reportthe score in two differentFormats/absolute scores, and pointsper pound of station weight. So youcan get your kicks from running upa magnificent score, or achievingan remarkable ratio of points perpound.

If you're thinking about becoming amember of Adventure Radio Society,just send Richard Fisher(membership chairman) an e-mailexpressing your interest. Richard'se-mail address is nu6SN@aol.com.Membership is free, and theorganization has a great group ofmen and women who combine theirlove of ham radio with theiraffection for the outdoors. Youdon't need to be a macho person;ARS welcomes people of all ages andlevels of ability.

Russ Carpenter, AA7QU, ContestManager russ@natworld.com

CQ WW DX Contest, phone0000Z Oct 30 to 2400Z Oct 31

Exchange: RS(t) and CQ Zone

Classes: Single op allband/singleband/assisted, high power/low power(less than 100W) or QRP (less than

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5W) multi single, multi multi.Multi singles have a 10 minuterule. All classes may only have onetransmitted signal per band.

Work stations once per band.

Team and club competition

North American stations score 2pts/qso with stations in different countries on same continent and 3pts/qso with stations on differentcontinents. Stations in the samecountry may be worked for zonecredit, but no points.

Multipliers are CQ Zones andcountries (DXCC + WAE)

Final score is QSO points xmultipliers

Awards.

Send logs by Dec 1 to CQ Magazine,25 Newbridge Rd, Hicksville, NY11801 ssb@cqww.com Seehttp://cqww.com/cqww/

Ten-Ten International Net Fall CWQSO Party

0000Z Oct 30 to 2400Z Oct 31Single op only, CW only, on 10meters only

Categories: Individual, QRP, Club

Contacts must be made in CW sub-bands

Exhange: Call, name, state/countryand 10-10 number if member.

Score 1 pt/qso with nonmembers and2 pts/qso with members

Final score QSOI pts x prefixes.

Awards

Send logs by Nov 15 to: GatewayChapter, Don Ward W0RTV, 4514Ferrer Dr., St Louis, MO 63129-3741.

For more info seehttp://listserv.lehigh.edu/lists/tenten-l/rules.html

The Zombie Shuffle

Friday Night, October 29, 1999; Any4-hour period you choose from yourlocal sundown to local midnight.You can split it into two sessionsif interruptions are unavoidable.

20, 40, and 80 meters CW QRP Only(5 watts or less power out)Suggested frequencies 14.060,7.040, 7.110, 3.560, 3.710

Exchange: RST, SPC, Name, Zombienumber or telephone area code ifyou do not have a Zombie number

Stations using a Tuna Tin 2, thenadd /TT2 after your callsign and ifyou are 18 years old or younger,send your age to.

You may identify stationsparticipating by looking for orcalling CQ BOO.

Scoring: Your score is going to bethe sum of all Zombie numbers andtelephone area codes worked on ALLbands! Stations can only be workedonce per band however. Also add inspecial bonus points

Certificates of participation areavailable by sending your logs,score sheet and a business sizedSASE to:

Jan Medley, N0QTZombie Shuffle Contest CoronerPO Box 1768Socorro NM 87801

Zombie pins and certificate areavailable by sending your logs,score sheet, and $2 (US Funds) forP/H to the same address. Pleaseinclude an address label. Toqualify for a pin you must work 13or more QSO's using any rig at 5Wor less; or work 5 or more QSO'susing a Tuna Tin 2 yourself; or

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work 5 or more QSO's with somebodyelse that's using a Tuna Tin 2.

Please use plain ASCII text onlyfor log submissions. The minimuminformation your log should showis: Band, Callsign of stationworked, exchange received, exchangesent (at least the RST), and thetime in UTC.

Enjoy....

72, de Mark KQ0Imarkmilburn@netzero.net

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Announcing the Milliwatt TripleCrown!

The Knightlites, Ft. Smith QRPClub, and the Iowa QRP Club aresponsoring the great MilliwattTriple Crown. Earlier this fallthe noble Knights announced theirHoliday Milliwatt contest. At thesame time the Ft. Smith QRP Cluband the Iowa QRP Club were planningsimilar contests. It just seemednatural to get the three togetherin yet another contest! Here aresome of the details.

Each individual contest isindependent and run by therespective club. Each individualcontest will have a winner and theresults will be posted to QRP-L.The Milliwatt Triple Crown winnerwill be determined by combiningscores from all three events (thesame scoring methods will be usedfor each independent contest). Thecumulative score should prove to bea lot of fun and establish seriousbragging rights on just how low youcan go.

Details are still being worked outbut we can tell you that the firstleg of the Milliwatt Triple Crownkicks off in December with theKnightlites Holiday MilliwattContest. The Ft. Smith event willbe in the March/April timeframe and

the Iowa QRP event will follow inthe July/August timeframe.

Start honing your milliwatt skillsnow and be prepared to turn thepowerdown!

72, Bob Kellogg AE4ICKnightlite QRP Association

Jay Bromley W5JAYFt. Smith QRP Club

John Burnley NU0VIowa QRP Club

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The Fractal Wing LoopBy John Burnley NU0V

Covenants and CCR's are dreadedwords most hams do not want toface. In my opinion, the inabilityto put up an antenna has been moredamaging to amateur radio than anyother item. When my children wereyoung I would annually give hamradio demonstrations to theirclassrooms. Even with competitionfrom video games, cartoons, andplaying with friends, there wasalways interest in the hobbydemonstrated by the children. Butwhenever I tried to follow up withthe parents about developing thechild's interest the door would getslammed shut. "I wish we could letTimmy put up an antenna, but ourarea has restrictions aboutantennas so they'll just have tofind another hobby". Trying tosuggest compromise or hiddenantennas fell on deaf ears.

Unfortunately most areas arerestricted these days and not manyparents will consider a child'spossible future interest in a hobbywhen purchasing a home. My wifeand I faced a similar dilemma whenwe bought our current house. Wechose the area for the schooldistrict first and then tried towork out antenna privileges. Theexisting housing market in the DesMoines suburbs was very tight.

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Some houses sold before we couldevent get over to look them over alunch hour. We finally decided togo with new construction, but therewere the covenants on the property.Having a spouse who is not a fan ofthe hobby did not help my plight.The best of a bad situation endedup being allowed to have an antennaas long as it was attached to thehouse (but could not extend overthe yard).

By liberally interpreting thecovenants, I tried a variety of lowprofile antennas. I first randipoles under the eaves of thehouse (two story) without muchsuccess. Finally I settled on avertical that was 3/8 wave on 30meters (with 1/4 wavelength radialsunder my deck). The vertical runsup the side of the house and overthe roof to a peak. It hasperformed well allowing many DXcontacts. But because of anglingup to the roof peak, it showscharacteristics of being a sloper(favoring the southeast and

Caribbean). The good news was thatthe antenna performed well on 40and 20 meters! A simple multibandantenna seemed to allow me to thumbmy nose at the developers. All waswell until this past summer when 20finally started opening up intoEurope. I could hear a multitudeof European stations but just couldnot raise them running my NC20 at 5watts into the vertical. I alsohad very little luck with westernand northwestern statesidestations.

After first moving into the house,I installed two indoor loops in theattic over the garage. The innerloop was for 10 meters and theouter loop was cut for 15 meters.I used the standard formula of 1005/ f(Mhz) to determine the length ofwire for the antenna. Because theloops are located in the attic,there are many objects withinproximity that affect resonance.In other words the antennas weredetuned somewhat because of objectsbeing near. The solar cycle was

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beginning to head south anyway so Iplaced the indoor loops on thepreverbal 'To Do List'.

After another frustrating eveningof trying to work Europeans, Iremembered the two loops in theattic over the garage. Could Ipossibly modify the larger loop toresonate on 14 Mhz? If so wouldthe results be disappointing?

October 12, 1999 was a banner dayfor me! QRP Quarterly, Sprat, andmy NorCal Toroid Kit all arrivedthe same day! Yahoo! The XYL andchildren were not home and I beganto go through the ham radio 'To DoList' to look for a good project.The loops topped the list. Timefor some climbing into the attic.

Rummaging through the garageproduced a 22-foot section of 12gauge solid copper wire. Thequestion was just how to add thewire to the loop. Back in theearlier days I experimented withloops within loops, figure 8 loops,and a variety of others. Noneworked very well. The larger loopalready extended from wall to walland roof to just above the garageceiling. Without any room to workwith the project did not look verypromising.

Several years ago I read somearticles written by Nathan Cohen in'Communications Quarterly' aboutfractal antennas (see references).Fractal geometry in designingantennas was not a well-knownconcept and I believe that Cohenreceived a bit of criticism overhis articles. It was veryinteresting reading though and Irecommend that everyone take a lookat his concepts.

With fractal geometry, therepeating of a design upon itselfcreates a complex shape (orstructure as Cohen labels it).Thus the term self-similar oriterating is used to describe thepatterns. The self-similar patterns

induce capacitance and inductanceinto the design. Since the outsideperimeter is patterned, iteffectively shrinks the physicalsize of the antenna (but maintainsa resonant structure).

Cohen discovered some interestingproperties of fractal antennas. Insome cases there is gain exhibitedin a fractal antenna over that ofit's full sized counterpart (up toa point). Multiple iterationfractals resonate at multiplefrequencies (in a non-harmonicfashion). Cohen defined resonanceas total impedance that fellbetween 20 and 200 ohms with mediumto high Q. Finally he found thatwhen fractals are shaped intoclosed loops the radiationresistance does not dropsignificantly for their size as dowith most small loops (at loweriterations). As the number ofiterations increases (smallerphysical size), the antenna willeventually exhibit the pitfallsthat most shortened antennas have(lower radiation resistance andnarrowing bandwidth).

Here is a simple example of afractal design. Iteration 0 is astraight line. Iteration 1introduces a box upon the straightline. Iteration 2 introduces a boxupon each line segment of iteration1.

Cohen also mentions that there areexamples of simple fractals inantenna use today. But he alsopoints out that a true fractalantenna completely contains theself-similar patterns. The fractalwing loop is not a true fractalantenna. Rather it is a hybridthat uses a standard loop designbut introduces segments of wire atthe load point perpendicular to theplane. The segments protrude fromthe plane of the loop and resemblesmall wings (hence the name). Thewings are constructed with fractalshaping borrowed from a seconditeration Minkowski loop (see

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references). My goal was tolengthen the loop with enough wireto resonate on the 14 Mhz band.

Figure 2 illustrates the basicshape of the wing. It wasconstructed with a 6 1/4-inchlength of 2 x 4 lumber. This was ascrap piece of lumber that wasrandomly chosen. The wire is bentaround the 2 x 4 scrap to form astair step pattern, which issymmetrical.

Figure 3 illustrates the finishedloop. It is important to note thatthe wings are not self-supporting.Twine was used to provide supportand keep the wings from collapsing.The twine was run up to a strut inthe attic roof.

Remember that this is an indoorantenna. The existing loop wasoriginally designed for 21.120 Mhz(1005 / 21.120 = 47.583 feet). Themodified loop contains 69.66 feetof wire and should resonate at14.42 Mhz (according to thestandard formula). The antenna(bottom) is approximately 12 feetoff the ground (or in this caseabove a concrete slab). The wingscontain 31% of total wire length.Because of the attic location, Iexpected some detuning to takeplace. And now you are thinking toyourself, 'quit beating around thebush and tell us how it worked'.Well the results are surprising butadmittedly I am pleased.

Using an MFJ-259 antenna analyzer Istarted a sweep at 26 Mhz and tuneddownward. The first resonance I

found was at 13.974 Mhz. Closeenough! I attribute this only todumb luck. At 13.974 Mhz the SWRwas at 2.4.1 - 2.5.1 and theResistance meter on the SWRanalyzer read 100 ohms. This wasclose to what I would have expectedwith a normal box loop. Rememberthe radiation resistance of aresonant one-wavelength loop isapproximately 100 ohms and willshow a SWR of 2.1.1 on the MFJ-259.

I do not recommend anyone using myexact dimensions to build thisantenna. Rather I encourage you toput up a loop with as much wire aspossible and then add the fractalwings to reach a desirable resonantfrequency. Experimentation will beneeded to get the exact dimensionsfor your location. Eachinstallation will be different (Iam assuming you will be placingthis antenna indoors) with avariety of environmental factorsaffecting performance. If you haveenough real estate and norestrictions then put up a fullsized antenna outside.

How did the antenna work? The loopis oriented north/south (maximumradiation). On air reports havebeen very good and much better thanthose received with the vertical.Here is a list of the contacts madewith casual operating: CO2SX, AF5Z,UA0BW, CO2RQ, XE3LPV, W7VR, W4HEW,KC0EHS, PP6CW, VE7BXO, FY/DJ6SI,UA0ABK, RW9UMT, KP4BME, N4SO,AF4PP, AB5XQ, K1JD, and N7XI.

I am especially pleased with theover the pole contacts. Grantedthe reports are standard DX reports(599) but many were made on thefirst and second calls. I alsoused this antenna exclusivelyduring the ARCI Fall QSO Party andmade 56 contacts with it.

The wings were conceived because Iwas modifying an existing antenna(that I did not want to take down).Other designs are possible usingfractal patterns. Instead of

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placing the wings perpendicular tothe plane of the loop, the patternscan be incorporated into the mainpart of the loop itself. Of courseone could also fashion a truefractal antenna (constructedtotally with self-similarpatterns).

Indoor antennas can be a compromisenot only in performance but withthe operator's patience as well(hi). The limitations that are nowplaced on amateurs by covenants andCCR's make operating effectivelydifficult and sometimes can keepothers out of the hobby.

The fractal wing loop is an indoorantenna that has given me goodresults. More experimentation isneeded to determine the real effectof the wings on resonance asopposed to the environmentaleffects of indoor use. As timepermits I will report whatinformation I find. If anyone hasmodeling software and is willing tomodel this antenna please Email meprivately. I will help you any waythat I can and hope that you willreport back your results in thisjournal.With all indoor antennas, QRP powerlevels should be used (of course I

feel the same with outdoor ones aswell hi).

References

1. N. Cohen, "Fractal Antennas Part1", Communications Quarterly,Summer 1995, 7-22.

2. N. Cohen, "Fractal And ShapedDipoles", CommunicationsQuarterly, Spring 1996, 25-36.

3. N. Cohen, "Fractal Antennas Part2", Communications Quarterly,Summer 1996, 53-66.

4. N. Cohen and R. Hohlfeld,"Fractal Loops And The SmallLoop Approximation",Communications Quarterly, Winter1996, 77-81.

5. ARRL Antenna Handbook 14thEdition.

72, de John NU0Vburnleyia@home.com

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Copyright Notice

The Iowa QRP Journal is publishedfour times per year (Spring,Summer, Fall, and Winter).Copyright of materials appearing inthe Iowa QRP Journal remains withthe author(s). Articles or

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materials may NOT be reprintedwithout permission of theauthor(s). Iowa QRP Journalrequests that reprints of thematerials or articles acknowledgeprevious publication in the IowaQRP Journal. The articlescontained within this newsletterhave not been tested and noguarantees of success are expressedor implied. If you build anyprojects from the Iowa QRP Journal,you should maintain safe practicesat all times and know that youassume all risks.

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The Iowa QRP Club was formed topromote amateur radio low poweroperations, to hone operatingskills, improve building skills,and introduce the hobby toperspective new amateurs.

Membership is limited to currentIowans, former Iowans, those withstrong Iowa ties, border states(border counties), and in somecases by invitation. To join,email a request to:

IowaQRPClub@juno.com

or surface mail to:

John Burnley NU0V8204 Sutton DriveUrbandale, IA 50322

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Iowa QRP JournalInterim Editor:John Burnley NU0VOfficers:President:John Burnley NU0VVice President:Larry Stambaugh WB0RMTSecretary:Jerry Huldeen WB0TTreasurer:Mark Milburn KQ0IClub Station:KQ0RP